LITTLE ROCK — Dear Otus,
We sat horrified during the recent “Blood Suckers of Arkansas” talk at Hobbs State Park. The expert predicted an apocalyptic infestation of ticks the likes of which hasn’t been seen since biblical times.
Of particular concern was the return of the giant Mexican crab ticks thanks to the mild winter and dry spring.
We’re planning a week long camping trip to Withrow Springs next month. Should we take bug spray or shotguns?
- William Leach Bentonville
Dear Bill,
It was wholly a pleasure to hear from you and have the opportunity to ease your mind.
It was also a pleasure to get your e-mail amid the dozens of others asking about the paper’s article last Monday about cougars moving back into Arkansas.
So far, only eight mountain lions have been spotted, but for me that’s eight too many. We can handle the ticks. Cougars, on the other hand, will kill you and eat you on the spot.
All ticks, even the giant Mexican crab tick (Caridis sanguinantis), are relatively slow and easily outrun.
Killing ticks is relatively simple. Methods range from squeezing them with a thumbnail (for the smallest) to bashing them with a ballpeen hammer.
The chances that you or a family member will be attacked while asleep at Withrow Springs and have your blood drained by a 9-inch hypostome, leaving a desiccated, lifeless husk, are really quite remote.
To be on the safe side, I’d zip the tents up at night. It won’t help with cougars, but the ticks usually avoid tents.
Evidently, the giant ticks have yet to make their way back as far north as the Ozarks. The only giant tick sightings this year have been at Millwood State Park, White Oak Lake State Park and Cane Creek State Park.
That puts the giant ticks south of a line roughly fromAshdown to Hope, Fordyce, Star City and Dumas. It may just be a matter of time before the ticks make their way north, however, and vigilance is paramount.
The climatological conditions in Arkansas are ripe for a return of the giant Mexican crab ticks from their normal range in Mexico’s northern states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas.
The last infestation occurred in the early 1960s.
The spring floods of a year ago established an abundance of moist breeding grounds. The mild winter did not kill off the usual number of ticks in the larval and nymphal stages, and the exceedingly dry spring has sent the critters scurrying forth in search of suitable hosts.
This is true for the ixodidae and argasidae branches of the Caridis sanguinantis family. You can tell them apart because the argasidae have an orange spot on the scutum in the shape of a huapanguera.
Andrew Acarina of the Entomology/Etymology Department at South Arkansas Community College in El Dorado has trapped a number of giant Mexican crab ticks and says Arkansans are right to be cautious now that summer has officially arrived.
A renowned expert in the field of entonophobia, Acarina says that the ticks can not only suck five quarts of blood out of a human in an hour, but they carry diseases that, should the host survive, cause serious health problems.
Included on the list are tularemia, relapsing fever, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, tick paralysis and tick-borne meningoencephalitis, as well as porcine anaplasmosis.
And, of course, there is the dreaded (and most common) lime disease where the infection site turns a yellowish green and smells faintly of citrus.
When removing a giant Mexican crab tick that has become attached to its host, be sure to get the head along with the body. If the head breaks off, a pair of sturdy barbecue tongs have proved helpful in prying out the stubborn mandibular sheath.
One final note: Be sure to check your pets when they come in from outdoors. If you see a dinner-plate-size critter attached to Fido, he has brought home a giant Mexican crab tick.
Until next time, Kalaka reminds you that Deep Woods Off only makes the ticks peckish.
Disclaimer
Fayetteville-born Otus the Head Cat’s award-winning column of humorous fabrication appears every Saturday. E-mail:
HomeStyle, Pages 30 on 06/23/2012